PM should not inaugurate Vande Bharat train: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

South 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], December 29 (ANI): West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday raised questions on the launch of the Vande Bharat Express train by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said that the train should be inaugurated by the railway minister.
"A Prime Minister should not inaugurate Vande Bharat train when there is already a Railway minister," he said.
Chowdhury's statement comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to West Bengal on Friday.
PM Modi is scheduled to visit West Bengal on Friday to flag off a Vande Bharat Express train connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri at Howrah Railway Station.
He will also inaugurate the Joka-Taratala stretch of the Purple Line of the Kolkata Metro Train.
Chowdhury further accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to escape from the hands of the Crime Branch Investigation (CBI) before the panchayat elections.
"She (Mamata Banerjee) is trying to escape from the hands of CBI, so she is coming in the name of railway inauguration on this pretext," said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
According to an official release, the 6.5-Km long Joka-Taratala stretch of the Kolkata metro, having six stations namely Joka, Thakurpukur, Sakher Bazar, Behala Chowrasta, Behala Bazar and Taratala has been constructed at a cost of more than Rs 2475 Crore. Passengers of southern Kolkata like Sarsuna, Dakghar, Muchipara and South 24 Parganas will immensely benefit from this project's inauguration.
Earlier on December 27, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the alarming situation caused by the "perpetual river erosion" along the banks of the Ganges and the Padma across the districts of Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia in West Bengal and urged PM to tackle the decades-old problem of erosion during the 'Namami Gange' review meeting which is scheduled to be held in Kolkata.
As a five-time elected MP from the district of Murshidabad, He raised the issue in the Parliament umpteen times. Still, no long-term river erosion resistance project has yet been undertaken with due seriousness to save thousands of people from falling victim to the recurrent tragedy wrought by river erosion. (ANI)